DMC wrote in his new autobiography Ten Ways Not To Commit Suicide how he has suffered from depression throughout his life. He said that his worst sruggle was in 1997 on tour in Japan.

The rapper, real name Darryl McDaniels, said that ‘Angel’ helped his peace of mind. DMC wrote: “I cannot over-emphasise how important that song was to me in the midst of my depression. ‘Angel’ kept me serene even when every fibre of my person was screaming for me to lose it and made me believe that I could soldier through.”

DMC revealed that he had recently got sober after battling alcoholism, but was struggling to work out his identity. He wrote: “It would be too simple to say that song got rid of all my negative feelings. It couldn’t rid me of the wounds. But ‘Angel’ was like a life preserver tossed to me during a storm. It didn’t pull me out of the water, but it did help me stay afloat until other help came along.”

DMC met McLachlan that year at a Grammys party and thanked her for the influence ‘Angel’ had on his mental health. The pair later recorded a cover of Harry Chapin’s ‘Cat’s In The Cradle’ and wrote the 2006 song ‘Just Like Me’ about foster children, as both musicians were adopted.

Run-DMC disbanded in 2002 after Jam Master Jay was shot dead at his studio in New York. His killing was never solved. Since then, DMC has released 2006 solo album ‘Checks, Thugs And Rock & Roll’ and produced Generation Kill.